Screw-feeding device



July 31, 1923- 1,463,338

s. E. SCHROEDER SCREW FEEDING DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 5, 19519 3'Sheets-Sheet 1 v E ii:

- fi smanz' safifik .Eufiy 31, 19523- Y mamg S. E. SCHROEDER SCREWFEEDING DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 5 1919 ,3 Sheets-Sheet 3 S. E.SCHROEDER SCREW FEEDING DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 1919 I5 Sheets-Sheetli'i Pat nte an at, was.

. UNE STS ht, AFN t,

SIMON E. SCJHROEIDER, F OAK PARK, ILLINOIfi.

8CREW-FEEDING DEVICE.

Applicationfiled. Eanuary 3, 1919, Serial No. 269,510. Renewed September21, race. Serial Ito.

T a all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LSIMON E. Sonnononn, a citizen of'the United States,and a resident of the villa e of Oak Park, in the county of Cook andtate of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aScrew-Feeding Device; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings and to the numerals of referencemarked thereonwhich form a part of this specification. My invention has reference moreparticularly to a device for feeding screws from a magazine to ascrewdriver or other machine or tool utilizing thescrews.

An object of my invention is to provide a quantity of a magazine forcontainin or feed ng the screws and mechanism screws as required to amachine or tool utilizin the screws.

Anot er object of my invention is to provide mechanism for feedingscrews from a magazine or receptacle one at a time and posltioned in apredetermined manner.

Another object of my invention is to pro-' vide mechanism for feedingscrews successively from a screw receptacle or magazine and wherein thefeeding of the screws is under the control of the operator.

Another object of my invention is to provide screw feeding mechanism forsupplying screws one at a time from a receptacleor magazine and fordischarging same point foremost therefrom.

Another object of my invention is to provide a screw receptacle ormagazine with mechanism feeding the screws therefrom successively andwherein the supply of screws therefrom is under the control of theoperator at a pointdistant from the magazine or receptacle.

A further object of my invention is to provide an automatic screw driverand a screw magazine with mechanism for feeding the screws, one at atime, to the automatic screw driver, and whereby the screw isdeliveredpoint foremost from the magazine to a point in front of the screw driverin proper position to be operated upon by the screw drivin mechanim.

y invention also has other important objects that will appear from thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, in which I havedescribed and illustrated my invention in a preferred form.

. Figure 2 is a'view of the screw magazine and eeding mechanism, lookingat the right hand end thereof, as shown in Figure 1, whlch end ishereinafter, for the sake of convenlence, referred to as the rear end.

Figure 3 is a front end view of the screw magazlne and feedingmechanism.

F1 re 4 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 2.

Flgure 5 is a bottom view of the' s'crew magazine and feedin mechanism.

Figure 6 is a sectional view onvthe line of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary side view of the screw magazine showing themechanism for controlling the release of the screws.

Figure 8 is a bottom view of the coils and armature for operating thescrew releasing mechanlsm.

Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the screw driving deviceshowing the switch mechanism for controlling the feed of the screws fromthe magazine.

Figure 10 is a diagrammatic view of'the circuits controlling the screwreleasing mechanism.

As shown on the drawings:

In the structure illustrated the screw feeding magazine and operatingmotor are mounted on a fixed; support and the screw drivingmechanism'has flexible connections therewith which enable the screwdriving mechanism to be moved about to the various places where thescrews are to be driven.

However, I contemplate that the principles of this invention may beembodied in a 7 single unit including the screw driving mechanismandscrew magazine and feed, or the screw magazine and feed and screwdriving mechanism may be combined, and the motor mounted in a stationaryposition and provided with a flexible connection with the screw drivingmechanism and screw feeding mechanism.

The reference numeral 1 indicates a sup port, preferably above theposition where the screw driving mechanism is to be used, and uponthissupport is mounted the driving motor 2, and the screw magazine 3,the latter having brackets 4, wherebyit is mounted on the top ofsupport 1. The screw magazine 3, may be of any convenient shape andscrew'threaded rolls 8 and 9, one of which has a left hand thread andthe other a right hand thread. These rolls 8 and 9 are arranged paralleland spaced sufficiently to receive the stems of the screws therebetween,

but engage under the head of the screw so as to support same in theposition shown in Figure 6, said rolls being set up-close against thelower ends of the bottom walls 5, which latter are formed at their loweredges to fit close to the periphery of the rolls, so that the slotbetween the rolls is the only opening in which the screws may engage.These rolls are operated in the directions indicated by the arrows inFigure 6, and the threads upon the rolls 8 and 9 are in the properdirection to advance a screw or screws supported on the rolls, from thefront end of the magazine tothe rear end thereof. Adjacent the rear endof the magazine, each roll is correspondingly turned down or reduced indiameter as at 10, to

afiord an increased distance between the rolls suficient to allow thehead of the screw to pass therebetween, and at this point the screw istherefore permitted to drop vfrom the rolls into a tube 11, Which issecured to the bottom of the magazine-directly below the point at whichthe screws are released from the rolls. The side of tube 11, at theupper end towards the front wall of the magazine is cut away as at 12,to permit entrance of the sus ended screw laterally into the upper end 0a the tube 11.

The motor 2, which in the present structure serves to operate the screwdriving mechanism as well as the screw feeding mechanism, is set at oneside of the screw magazine and has a pulley 13, which is connected bythe belt 14:, with a pulley 15, on a shaft 16, extending from end to endof the screw magazine, and journalled in bearings on the end plates 6and 7. A. gear 17, is secured on this shaft at one end and meshes with agear 18, on the end of the roll 9, for operating the latter, and asimilar gear 19, on the opposite end of the shaft 16, meshes with anidler gear 20, mounted on a stud 21, projecting outwardly from the endplate 7, and this idler gear 20 meshes with a gear 22, on the outer endof the roll 8, and it will be noted that this manner of connecting therolls 8 and 9 with the shaft 16, imparts a simultaneous rotation to theJournaled in the incense rolls in opposite directions, and to insure thescrews being held in proper position between the rolls 8 and 9 fordischarge into the tube 11, and to prevent the other screws than thoseseated between the rolls, being carried to the point of discharge, ashaft 23, is journalled transversely of the screw magazine immediatel infront of the point of discharge of t e screws, and has a brush wheel 24,secured thereon, with the periphery thereof close to the upper face ofthe feed rolls 8 and 9, and this brush is rotated in the directionindicated by the arrow in Figure 4:, so that any screws which are improerly seated on the rolls will be forced bac wardly thereby towards thescrew magazine. An inclined shield 25, is secured in the screw magazineat the rear end as shown in Figure 4=,and has straight up and downportions 26, at each side of the brush wheel 24, and immediately infront .of shaft 23.

, Between the side portions or walls, the shield 25, has a noseprojecting portion 27, extending downwardly and around the front of thewheel 24, to prevent screws from the magazine from resting on the brush.

The shaft 23, is journalled in the side walls of the screw magazine, andprojects therebeyond at one side over the shaft 16, and is'provided witha worm wheel 28, connecting with a worm 29, on the shaft 16, whereby thebrush 24 is rotated.

The screw driving device is indicated as a whole at 30, in Flgure 1, thedetail construction thereof being shown in my application filed' January3, 1919, Serial No. 269,509. This device has a casing 31, which isresiliently supported on a base plate 32, by means of springs 33, whichare coiled around stems 34 said stems being slidably engaged in rings 35and 36, with which the casing 31, is provided. An upwardly erranlsm, anda flexible tube 38, connects the ill) discharge pipe 11, of the screwmagazine with the tubular extension 37, so that the screws as they aredischarged into the pipe 11, are carried into the tube 38, by gravity tothe screw driving device. A retatable and reciprocable shaft 39, ismounted in the casing 31, and connected by means of a flexible shaft4:0, with the drive shaft of the motor 2, and there is a handle or grip41, immediately above the shaft 39, whereby the operator holds the screwdriver mee ianism in an upright position and depresses the shaft 39, inthe operation of driving the screw. 7

Ubviously it is desirable to control the feed of screws from the screwmagazine to the screw driving device so that they may be supplied one ata time at the will of the operator, or automatically after the screwwhich was previously supplied has been driven into the work. For thispurpose a pair of fingers 42 and 43, are slidably mounted in brackets44, depending from the bottom of the screw magazine, and are adapted tobe projected alternately across and below the slot between the rolls 8and 9, at a point directly in front of the reduced portion 10, of therolls, and these fingers are separated from one. another substantiallythe width of a screw. "A pair of levers 45 and 46, are pivoted to abracket 47, at the side of the screw magazine and are pivotallyconnected at their lower ends with the fingers 42 and 43 respectively.The upper ends of the levers 45 and 46, are bent outwardly to increasethe di tance between their upper ends as shown in Figure 7, and theextreme upper ends are engaged in slotted openings 48, at opposite endsof an armature 49, which latter is pivoted centrally at 50, to a bracket51. mounted on the side of the screw magazine. Separate electro-magnets52, and 53, are mounted on the under side of a bracket plate 54,attached to the screw magazine 3, one adjacent each end of armature 49,to control the oscillation of the armature and thereby the operation ofthe fingers 42 and 43, and thereby control the discharge of the screwsfrom the screw feeding mechanism, and the electro-magnet 52, is normallyenergized so asto draw the adjacent end of the armature 49, thereto andthereby hold the finger 42 projected across the slot between the rolls 8and 9 as shown in Figure 5 and prevent discharge of screws from thescrew feedingmechanism. For releasing a screw the circuit to theelectro-inagnet 52 is broken, and the. electromagnet 53 is energizedwhereupon the armature 49, is swung on its pivot, the end thereofadjacent to the electro-magnet 53, being drawn thereto, and thisoperation of the armature, through the levers 45 and 46, projects thefinger 43 across the slot between the rolls Sand 9, separating the screwin the slot which is against the finger 42, from the rest of the screwsin the slot and at the same time the finger 42 is released or withdrawnfrom the position across the slot between the rolls 8 and 9, so that thescrew which. is now separated by the finger 43, may be moved by therolls into position to drop down through the tube 11, to the screwdriving mechanism.

For automatically controlling the feeding of a screw by the operation ofthe screw driving mechanism, I have provided a contact member 55 on thecasing 31, of the screw driving mechanism, which member is normallyengaged by aspring contact 70 mounted in an insulated manner on thecasing. A wire 56 connects the spring contact 70 with'one terminal of abattery 59, or other source of electrical energy, and the other terminalof the battery 59, is connected by the wire 58 with one terminal of eachelectromagnet 52 and- 53. The other terminal of the magnet 52 as well asthe member 55, are grounded on the machine to complete the circuitthrough the magnet 52, while the other terminal of the magnet 53 isconnected by the wire 61, to an insulated contact member 60, on thelower portion of the handle 41.

The contact member 60 is so positioned that when the handle 41 and shaft39 are depressed, at the end of its downward movement it engages thespring contact 70, closing the circuit through the electro-magnet 53,and at the same time separates the spring contact from the contactmember 55 so as to interrupt the circuit through the electro-' magnet52. When the handle 41, and shaft 39. are elevated after the screwdriving operation the contact member 61, is disengaged from the springcontact 70 and the latter immediately springs into engagement with thecontact member 55.

The operation is as follows:

A quantity of screws is placed in the screw magazine, 3, and the motor2, is set in operation. and through the flexible shaft connection 40,operates the screw driving mechanism of the screw driving device 30, andthe motor also, through connection 14, operates the rolls 8 and 9, andthe brush 24. Some of the screws at the bottom of the receptacle willdrop downwardly to the position between the rolls 8 and 9, shown inFigure 6, with the stem of the screw proenough to the rolls 8'and 9, tosweep over the head of a screw when properly seated between the rollswill straighten up any screws that are improperly seated between therolls, or carry them backwardly so that only the screws which areproperly carried by the rolls are permitted to pass under the brushwheel 24. 7

With the arrangement of the switches as shown for controlling thecircuits which energize the electro-magnets 52 and 53, the fingers 42and 43 normally occupy the positions shown in Figure 5, and at the endof each screw driving operation of the device 30, a screw is released tofall down through the flexible tube 38, in position for the neatoperation by the screw driving device. This results from the fact thatthe circuit through the magnet 52 is continually closed except at thetime when the handle 41 is de ressed nearly to its lowermost position.hen so depressed, the contact member engages.

the sprin contact 70, closing the circuit through t e magnet 53 and atthe same time disengaging the spring control from the contact member.55, and interrupting the circuit through the magnet .53 so that thearmature 49 is oscillated by the magnet 53 to reverse the position ofthe fingers t2 and t3, whereby the finger 4:3 is inserted between thelast screw in the slot between the rollers 8 and 9, and the finger 442is withdrawn so as to release the last screw so that it ma be carriedforward by the rolls 8 and 9 an drop through the space between the cutaway portions 10 of the rolls.

After the screw driving operation is completed the handle at, and shaft39, are raised and whreupon the contact members 70 and 60 are separated,and the member 70 then contacts with the projection 55, whereupon thecircuit is established through the electromagnet 52, which 0 erates thelevers t5 and 46, to return the nger 42 across the slot between therolls 8 and 9, and at the same time withdraws the finger 4:3, to permitanother screw to be advanced to the position to be released when thefinger i2 is again withdrawn.

The construction which l have shown herein for releasing the screw hasthe advantage that it is entirely automatic and permits a screw to beadvanced to a position of release while the screw driving device isoperating upon a screw, and upon the completion of the screw drivingoperation and the return of the handle 41, to the normal position,efi'ects a release of a screw so that the delivery of the screw to theautomatic screw driving device is pro erly timed to furnish a screwimmediately ollowing the completion of the o eration of driving thepreceding screw.

owever, other switch mechanisms .or devices either automatic or underthe direct control of the operator may be substituted for that shown,and various other changes and modificationsmay be made, withoutdeparting from the principles of my invention as defined in the appendedclaims, and I therefore do not purplose limiting the patent grantedhereon ot erwise than necessitated by the prior art. 7

ll claim as my invention: 1

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a screwreceptacle, threaded rolls for conveying the screws from the re ceptacleto a point of discharge, means for holding the screws at the point of.discharge, and means 0 erable at a distance therefrom for control ingthe release oi. the

neeaaae screws one at atime at the point of disto a point of discharge,a rotary brush having the periphery thereof adjacent the top of therolls to sweep back screws improperly seated on or between the rolls,and a chute extending downwardly from the rolls to a point beyond thebrush and adapted to receive the screws discharged from the rolls.

3. lin a device of the class described, the combination of a screwreceptacle, a pair of threaded rolls in the bottom of the screwreceptacle means for operating the rolls in opposite directions so as toconvey screws one at a time lengthwise of the rolls, with the headrested on the rolls, a brush ope able adjacent the upper face of therolls, for sweeping back screws improperly seated on the rolls, meansbeyond the brush permitting disengagement of the screws from the rolls,and a pair of fingers for controlling the discharge ot the screws fromthe rolls and operable to release the screws therefrom one at a time.

4:; lln a device of the class described, the combination of a screwreceptacle, means for carrying screws successively from the receptacleto a point of discharge, a pair of fingers for releasing the screws oneat a time from the screw carrying means at the point of discharge, andan electromagnet for controlling the operation of said fingers.

lln a device of the class described, the T combination of a screwreceptacle, a pair of threade'l rolls suitably spaced to engage the headof a screw and permit the stem of the screw to hang downwardlytherebetween and means for operating the rolls in opposite directions soas to carry screws therebetween to a point of discharge.

6. lln a device of the class described, the combination of a screwreceptacle, a pair of threaded rolls suitably spaced to engage the headof a screw and permit the stem of the screw to hang downwardlytherebetween, said rolls having annular cut away portions to allow thehead of the screw to pass between the rolls at the point of dischargeand means for operating the rolls in opposite directions so as to carryscrews therebetween to said point of discharge.

7. ln a device of the class described, the combination of a screwreceptacle having a bottom inclined downwardly from each side inwardlytowards a slot adjacent the center, a pair of threaded rolls adjacentthe slot suitably spaced to engage the head of a screw and permit thestem of the screw to hang tau downwardl therebetween, and means foroperating t e rolls in opposite directions so as to carry screwstherebetween to a point of discharge.

8. In a device of the class described the combination of a screwreceptacle, a pan of threaded rolls suitably spaced to engage the headof a screw and permit the stem of the screw to hang downwardlytherebetween, a shaft parallel to the rolls having gears adjacent eachend of the receptacle, one gear engaging a ear -on one of the rolls andthe other gear riving a gear on the other roll through an idle pinionwhereby the rolls are driven in opposite directions so as to carryscrews therebetween to a point of discharge.

9. In a device of the class described,- a pair of members suitablyspaced to engage the head of a screw and permit the stem of the screw tohang downwardly therebetween, said members having cut away portions toallow the head of the screw to ass between the members at the point ofdisc arge, means for moving the screws along the members towards the cutaway portions, a pair of fingers extending transversely of the membersfor restraining movement of the screws toward the point of discharge,means for withdrawing one finger to allow a screw to enter the spacebetween the fingers and subsequently projectin such finger to separatesaid screw from t e other screws and simultaneously withdrawing theother finger to allow said screw to pass to the point of discharge.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

Domma W. Lownn, C. W.-Bm.

